Dorsoduro,

ACCADEMIA ART GALLERY, VENICE

If you only make time for one museum in Venice, make it the Accademia. The collections cover the giants of Venetian painting from the 13th to the 18th centuries, and are housed in the gallery space of Venice's Accademia della Belle Arte (Academy of Fine Arts), established in 1750 in the former Scuola della Carità chapter house and convent attached to the (reconsecrated) Santa Mariadella Carità church.

Since this is, technically, an art school (its second director was late baroque master of the swirling-heavenly-clouds ceiling fresco, Giambattista Tiepolo), and since chronologically is how they've long taught art, that means your visit to the galleries starts off in the 14th century with the likes of Paolo Veneziano's Coronation of the Virgin altarpiece, continues through Giorgione's weirdly lit The Tempest, and Giovanni Bellini's many Madonna and Child, and ends with Carpaccio's intricate Cycle of St. Ursula and Titian's late Pietà.

Tintoretto's The Stealing of St. Mark commemorates the Venetian merchants who, in 828, spirited the body of the famed saint and Evangelist away from Alexandria during an era when acquiring bona fide saints was vouge for relic hunters and Italy's hyper-competitive maritime capitals competed to see who could steal the best saint then build a cathedral around his bones.

(In 1087 Bari, in Apulia, countered by nicking the 4th century Turkish bishop St. Nicola di Myra, a.k.a. St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus. In 1206, Amalfi entered the fray by taking home the bones of St. Andrew after the Sack of Constantinople.)

The Tintoretto painting is, obviously, a bit fanciful, depicting the long-dead saint as a fresh, rather muscular corpse being borne in the arms of the Venetian thieves—er, "borrowers." The real story is a bit grislier.

According to legend, the merchants smuggled the Evangelist's remains in a barrel of pickled pig parts—cleverly banking on the fact that Muslim proscription against even touching pork would help them slip through inspections. (check out the mosaics on Saint Marks Church to see another example of the story)

Here's another fun art anecdote at the Accademia: When Paolo Veronese unveiled his enormous painting The Lord's Last Supper in 1573, it was shocking not only for its size (at 42 feet long, one of the largest canvases of the 16th century), but also for its rather racy depiction of our Lord and Savior and his buddies. The artist had portrayed this holiest of moments as a rousing, drunken banquet that resembled paintings of Roman orgies.

The rising puritanism of the Inquisition had a conniption, and the church promptly charged the painter with irreverence—and threatened to indict him on the very serious charge of heresy. Veronese quickly re-titled the work Feast in the House of Levi—a scene that still had Jesus in it, but a Jesus surrounded by secular guests who were free to engage in acts of gluttony—and the mollified censors let it pass.

Tips for visiting the Accademia Galleries

Combined ticket?

Check to see if they have reintroduced the combined "3 Museums" admission ticket for €11 covering the Accademia (normally €6.50), Ca' d'Oro (€5), and the OrientalArt Museum in Ca' Pesaro (€5.50). That third one is only of minor interest, but the other two are top sights, and the combo ticket saves you even if you just visit those two—consider the Asian art a freebie bonus. (If you're booking ahead of time, as explained to the left, you can specify this ticket). This was suspended in late 2010, but may resurface.

Planning your day: It'll take you a good 90 minutes to three hours to peruse this vast collection of masterpieces by color-obsessed Venetian artists. Note: The last entry to the museum is at 6:30pm (1:15pm on Mondays).

Book ahead: Fire regulations mean they limit the number of visitors inside, which can sometimes translate into long waits to get in—especially in summer when you can might wait in line for anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. That makes it well worth the €1 fee to reserve your entry time, either by calling the main number (above to the right) or via the official website www.gallerieaccademia.org.

They'll force you to check your daypack—officially only if is it's more than 10x30x15 cm (4x12x6 inches), but in my experience they flag anything larger than a small purse—and charge you €0.50 for this "service."

European citizens under 18 and over 65 get in free; those age 18–25 at half-price.

Audio tours are available for €5; two can save by sharing a tour (with two headsets) for €7.

ACCADEMIA BRIDGE, VENICE

The Ponte dell'Accademia is one of only four bridges in Venice, Italy, to span the Grand Canal. It crosses near the southern end of the canal, and is named for the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, which from 1807 to 2004 was housed in the Scuola della Carità together with the Gallerie dell'Accademia, which is still there. The bridge links the sestiere of Dorsoduro and San Marco.

First suggested as early as 1488, a bridge was not constructed until 1854. Given the movements in Art at the time a Futurist style of by a pro Nationalist artist. The original steel structure, designed by Alfred Neville, was demolished and replaced by a wooden bridge designed by Eugenio Miozzi and opened in 1933, despite widespread hopes for a stone bridge. The second bridge, in a dangerous condition, was razed and replaced by the present bridge, of identical construction, in 1985. As of 2011, a replacement bridge is under discussion. Lovers attach padlocks (" love locks") to the metal hand rails of the bridge, but the Venice authorities have attempted to crack down on this.

CAMPO SAN BARNABA, VENICE

Campo San Barnaba is a campo (square) in Venice, northern Italy. The neighborhood's church, the San Barnaba, was featured in numerous films including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where it served as the exterior to the library.

The church of San Barnaba is a small Neoclassic-style church in district of Dorsoduro in Venice, It is located in Campo San Barnaba. It is dedicated to the Apostle Saint Barnabas.

History

A church at the site was built in the ninth century, but destroyed by fire in 1105. Rebuilt in 1350, it was reconstructed in present form in 1776. Cenni By Marcantonio Grimani. Using designs of Lorenzo Boschetti. To the left of the church was the entrance to the Casin dei Nobili (Casino of the Aristocracy), which was an active gaming house in the 18th century. Turismo, church entry. The church is presently deconsecrated and used for exhibits.

CHURCH OF SAN SEBASTIANO, VENICE

The Chiesa di San Sebastiano is a 16th-century Roman Catholic church located in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. Particularly notable for its cycle of paintings by the artist Paolo Veronese, the church also houses paintings by Tintoretto and Titian. The church is also a member of the Chorus Association of Venetian churches. It stands on the Campo di San Sebastiano by the Rio di San Basilio, close to the Giudecca Canal. It is one of the five votive churches in Venice, each one built after the passing of a plague through the city. Following construction, the church was dedicated to a saint associated with the disease; in this case St. Sebastian.

History

San Sebastiano is located on the site of a former hospice which was founded by the confraternity of Gerolimine fathers in 1393. Close to the hospice was an Oratory, built in 1396, and dedicated to Santa Maria Full of Grace and Justice. This was later expanded, and in 1468, was converted into a church dedicated to Saint Sebastian the martyr who was one of the chief patrons against plague and pestilence in Europe. The church is therefore regarded as one of the great Plague-Churches of Venice, built to temper divine punishment, as the plague was viewed in the Middle Ages. Starting in 1506, a number of alterations, including restructuring and enlargement overseen by the architect Antonio Abbondi (known as Scarpagnino), gave the church its current appearance. The expansion was completed in 1548, and the church was finally consecrated in 1562. It has a single-nave layout designed on a Latin cross. It has an atrium, above which is a raised choir, and culminates in an apsidal presbytery under a cupola. The architectural style of the church is Renaissance. A restoration project was undertaken in 1867.

Exterior

San Sebastiano has a plain façade containing, on the pediment's apex, the figure of St. Sebastian wounded by arrows. Close to the door are small figures of St. Sebastian and St. Jerome, the two saints most closely associated with the church.

Interior

Following a commission by Brother Bernardo Torlioni, the Verona-born painter Paolo Veronese spent three periods between 1555 and 1570 decorating various parts of the interior of San Sebastiano. This included paintings, ceiling canvases and frescoes on the nave and altar walls. Veronese also decorated parts of the sacristy, the choir, as well as completing the organ decorations and a large altar piece. The nave's sectioned ceiling contains three paintings depicting episodes from the Book of Esther which Veronese completed in 1556. The paintings behind the choir depict the life of St Sebastian to whom the church is dedicated. The organ doors and frontal contain three pieces: The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple; The Washing of Sacrificial Animals in the Temple; and The Nativity. Veronese also painted an Assumption of the Virgin in the cupola but this was destroyed in the 18th century. The painting standing behind the high altar was the last work completed by Veronese in the church. It is a scene depicting Madonna in Glory with St. Sebastian and other Saints and was completed in 1570. The painting is enclosed in a multi-coloured marble frame of the artist's own design which was commissioned by a Venetian noblewoman, Lise Querini, in 1559. The conception and execution of the painting by Veronese would have coincided with the final sessions of the Council of Trent which published a series of decrees in 1564. These condemned Protestant iconoclasm and renewed earlier emphasis on the inspirational value (namely through scenes of martyrdom) of saints' images. Following his decades of work within the church, on his death, Veronese was entombed there in 1588. The tomb is located to the left of the presbytery. Other notable works found in the church include Titian's St. Nicolas (1563) and works by Paris Bordone, Jacopo Sansovino, Palma il Giovane and Alessandro Vittoria. In the sacristy there are works by Jacopo Tintoretto and Bonifacio de' Pitati.

CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE, VENICE

Santa Maria della Salute, commonly known simply as the Salute, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the Italian city of Venice. It stands on a narrow finger of land between the Grand Canal and the Bacino di San Marco making the church visible when entering the Piazza San Marco from the water. The Salute is part of the parish of the Gesuati and is the most recent of the so-called plague-churches. In 1630, Venice experienced an unusually devastating outbreak of the plague. As a votive offering for the city's deliverance from the pestilence, the Republic of Venice vowed to build and dedicate a church to Our Lady of Health (or of Deliverance, ). The church was designed in the then fashionable baroque style by Baldassare Longhena, who studied under the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi. Construction began in 1631. Most of the objects of art housed in the church bear references to the Black Death. The dome of the Salute was an important addition to the Venice skyline and soon became emblematic of the city, inspiring artists like Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, John Singer Sargent and Francesco Guardi.

History

Beginning in the summer of 1630, a wave of the plague assaulted Venice, and until 1631 killed nearly a third of the population. In the city, 46,000 people died whilst in the lagoons the number was far higher, some 94,000. Repeated displays of the sacrament, as well as prayers and processions to churches dedicated to San Rocco and San Lorenzo Giustiniani had failed to stem the epidemic. Echoing the architectural response to a prior assault of the plague (1575–76), when Palladio was asked to design the Redentore church, the Venetian Senate on October 22, 1630, decreed that a new church would be built. It was not to be dedicated to a mere "plague" or patron saint, but to the Virgin Mary, who for many reasons was thought to be a protector of the Republic. It was also decided that the Senate would visit the church each year. On November 21 the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin, known as the Festa della Madonna della Salute, the city's officials parade from San Marco to the Salute for a service in gratitude for deliverance from the plague is celebrated. This involved crossing the Grand Canal on a specially constructed pontoon bridge and is still a major event in Venice. The desire to create a suitable monument at a place that allows for easy processional access from Piazza San Marco led senators to select the present site from among eight potential locations. The location was chosen partially due to its relationship to San Giorgio, San Marco, and Il Redentore, with which it forms an arc. The Salute, emblematic of the city's piety, stands adjacent to the rusticated single story customs house or Dogana da Mar, the emblem of its maritime commerce, and near the civic center of the city. A dispute with the patriarch, owner of the church and seminary at the site, was resolved, and razing of some of the buildings began by 1631. Likely, the diplomat Paolo Sarpi and Doge Nicolo Contarini shared the intent to link the church to an order less closely associated with the patriarchate, and ultimately the Somascan Fathers, an order founded near Bergamo by a Venetian nobleman Jerome Emiliani, were invited to administer the church.

A competition was held to design the building. Of the eleven submissions (including designs by Alessandro Varotari, Matteo Ignoli, and Berteo Belli), only two were chosen for the final round. The architect Baldassare Longhena was selected to design the new church. It was finally completed in 1681, the year before Longhena's death. The other design to make it to the final round was by Antonio Smeraldi (il Fracao) and Zambattista Rubertini. Of the proposals still extant, Belli's and Smeraldi's original plans were conventional counter-reformation linear churches, resembling Palladio's Redentore and San Giorgio Maggiore, while Varotari's was a sketchy geometrical abstraction. Longhena's proposal was a concrete architectural plan, detailing the structure and costs. He wrote: Later in a memorandum, he wrote: "Firstly, it is a virgin work, never before seen, curious, worthy and beautiful, made in the form of a round monument that has never been seen, nor ever before invented, neither altogether, nor in part, in other churches in this most serene city, just as my competitor (il Fracao) has done for his own advantage, being poor in invention." The Salute, while novel in many ways, still shows the influence of Palladian classicism and the domes of Venice. The Venetian Senate voted 66 in favor, 29 against with 2 abstentions to authorize the designs of the 26 year old Longhena. While Longhena saw the structure as crown-like, the decorative circular building makes it seem more like a reliquary, a ciborium, and embroidered inverted chalice that shelters the city's piety.

GIUDECCA ISLAND, VENICE

Giudecca is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, in northern Italy. It is part of the sestiere of Dorsoduro and is a locality of the comune of Venice.Giudecca lies immediately south of the central islands of Venice, from which it is separated by the Giudecca Canal. San Giorgio Maggiore lies off its eastern tip.

History

Giudecca was known in ancient times as the Spinalunga (meaning "Long Thorn"). The name Giudecca may represent a corruption of the Latin "Judaica" ("Judaean") and so may be translated as " the Jewry": a number of towns in Southern Italy and Sicily have Jewish quarters named Giudecca or Judeca. However, the original Venetian Ghetto was in Cannaregio, in the north of the city, and there is no evidence, but for the name, of Jews ever having lived in Giudecca. Furthermore, the term "Giudecca" was not used to denote the Jewish quarters of towns in northern Italy. Giudecca was historically an area of large palaces with gardens, the island became an industrial area in the early 20th century with shipyards and factories, in addition to a film studio. Much of the industry went into decline after World War II, but it is now once more regarded as a quiet residential area of largely working-class housing with some chic apartments and exclusive houses. It is known for its long dock and its churches, including the Palladio-designed Il Redentore. The island was the home of a huge flour mill, the Molino Stucky, which has been converted into a luxury hotel and apartment complex. At the other end of Giudecca is the famous five-star Cipriani hotel with large private gardens and salt-water pool.

SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE ISLAND, VENICE

San Giorgio Maggiore is one of the islands of Venice, northern Italy, lying east of the Giudecca and south of the main island group. The isle is surrounded by Canale della Grazia, Canale della Giudecca, Saint Mark Basin, Canale di San Marco and the southern lagoon. It forms part of the San Marco sestiere. File:Districts venice - sangiorgio maggiore.png|San Giorgio Maggiore within Venice.

History

San Giorgio Maggiore was probably occupied in the Roman period; after the foundation of Venice it was called Insula Memmia after the Memmo family who owned it. By 829 it had a church consecrated to St George; thus it was designated as San Giorgio Maggiore to be distinguished from San Giorgio in Alga. The San Giorgio Monastery was established in 982, when the Benedictine monk, Giovanni Morosini, a member of an important noble family of Venice, asked the doge Tribuno Memmo to donate the whole island for a monastery. Morosini drained the island's marshes next to the church to get the ground for building, and founded the Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, and became its first abbot. San Giorgio is now best known for the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by Palladio and begun in 1566. The belltower has a ring of 9 bells in C#. In the early 19th century, after the Republic fell, the monastery was almost suppressed and the island became a free port with a new harbour built in 1812. It became the home of Venice's artillery.

Today

San Giorgio Maggiore is now the headquarters of the Cini Foundation arts centre, known for its library and is also home to the Teatro Verde open-air theatre.

LE ZITELLE CHURCH, VENICE

Le Zitelle (officially Santa Maria della Presentazione) is a church in the Dorsoduro District of Venice, Italy. It is part of a former complex which gave shelter to young maidens ("zitelle" in Italian) who had no dowry, and is located in the easternmost part of the Giudecca island. Generally attributed to Andrea Palladio, the original design dates to 1579-1580 and the construction to 1586. Its housing edifice surrounds the church in a horseshoe shape, with a court behind the apse.

The façade has two orders, surmounted by a tympanum and flanked by two small bell towers. The church has a large dome with a lantern. The interior is on the central plan. It houses works by Aliense, Leandro Bassano and Palma il Giovane. The attribution to Andrea Palladio is not without controversy. The Centro points to a lack of contemporary documents and drawings confirming Palladio's involvement with the project and the fact that construction only started in 1581, one year after Palladio's death. They consider: "... The church is now only open on Sundays, and the Bauer Hotel has acquired the former convent and converted it into a 50-room luxury hotel - The Palladio.

PALACE CA FOSCARI, VENICE

Ca' Foscari, the palace of the Foscari family, is a Gothic building on the waterfront of the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Built for the doge Francesco Foscari in 1453 and designed by the architect Bartolomeo Bon, it is now the main seat of Ca' Foscari University of Venice. The palace is located on the widest bend of the Grand Canal. Here, during the annual Regata Storica (Historical Regatta, held on the first Sunday in September, a floating wooden structure known as La Machina is placed (from this structure the Venetian authorities watch at the race); this also the site of the finishing line is set and venue for prize-giving.

History

Previously a Byzantine palace, known as the "House with the two Towers", stood on the site; this was bought by the Republic of Venice in 1429 from Bernardo Giustinian, to be the residence of the vice-captain of the Republic, Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. The palace consisted of two towers flanking a lower, central block and was used for entertaining illustrious guests of the Republic, including kings and diplomats. In 1439, the palace was given to another captain, Francesco Sforza. However, In 1447, Francesco Sforza betrayed the Republic and was deprived of the residence. In 1453 the Republic of Venice regained possession of the palace and sold it by auction to the Doge of the time, Francesco Foscari; he had the palace demolished and rebuilt in late Venetian gothic style; the building was chosen by the doge for its position on the Grand Canal. Foscari immediately set about rebuilding the palace in a manner befitting his status: he moved the site of the new palace forward on to the bank of the Grand Canal.

Buying and rebuilding the palace for himself meant for the doge affirming his political and military role: he actually represented the continuity of the military successes of that period, lasted 30 years, and was the promoter of the Venetian expansion on mainland. The huge new palace could hardly have been finished when Foscari was disgraced in 1457 and retired to his new home until his death. In 1574 king Henry III of France was housed in the second floor of the building. The most recent restoration of Ca' Foscari and Ca' Giustinian (the palace adjacent to Ca' Foscari) was commissioned in 2004, aiming to fulfill the new requirements of safety and practicality. Work lasted from January 2004 until the summer of 2006. Presently the palace is the headquarters of the Ca', which has made accessible to the public some of the most beautiful halls, such as the "Aula Baratto" and the "Aula Berengo". In 2013, thanks to a series of important technical measures for energy efficiency and thanks to the adoption of stringent environmental management practices put in place by the Ca' Foscari University, the building obtains the LEED certificate for sustainability, thus becoming the oldest.

PLAZZO CA REZZONICO, VENICE

Ca' Rezzonico is a palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice. Today, it is a public museum dedicated to 18th-century Venice and one of the 11 venues managed by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.

Design

Ca' Rezzonico stands on the right bank of the canal, at the point where it is joined by the Rio di San Barnaba. The site was previously occupied by two houses belonging to the Bon family, one of Venice's patrician families. In 1649 the head of the family, Filippo Bon decided to build a large palazzo on the site. For this purpose he employed Baldassarre Longhena, the greatest proponent of Venetian Baroque, a style slowly replacing the Renaissance and Palladian architectural style of such palazzi as (its near neighbour) Palazzo Balbi and Palazzo Grimani built over 100 years previously. However, neither architect nor client was to see the completion of the Palazzo Bon: Longhena died in 1682, and Filippo Bon suffered a financial collapse. The design was for a three-story marble façade facing the canal. The ground floor rusticated, containing a central recessed portico of three bays without a pediment, symmetrically flanked by windows in two bays. Above this the piano nobile of seven bays of arched windows, separated by pilasters, above this the "second piano nobile" was near identical, and above this a mezzanine floor of low oval windows. The slight projection of the two tiers of balconies to the piano nobili accentuate the baroque decoration and design of the building. The palazzo today follows this form, although it was not finished until 1756 by the architect Giorgio Massari, who had been brought in to oversee the completion of the project by the new owners - the Rezzonico Family. Massari however, seems to have adhered to the original plans of Longhena, with the addition of some concepts of his own which reflected the change in architecture between the palazzo's conception and its completion 100 years later.

The Rezzonico family

The unfinished palazzo had been bought from the impoverished Bon family by Giambattista Rezzonico. His family, like their friends at the Palazzo Labia, had bought their noble Venetian status in the mid-17th century following a war with Turkey, when the Venetian state coffers were depleted. Hence the mere rich, as opposed to the wealthy aristocracy, could make a large donation to the Serene Republic, thus purchasing patents of nobility and having their names inscribed in the Libro d'Oro (the " Golden Book"). A Canaletto painting of the early 18th century shows only the ground floor and first piano nobile completed, and a temporary roof protecting the structure from the elements. The completion of the palazzo symbolised the completion of the Rezzonico's upward social journey. The pinnacle of the Rezzonico's power and the Palazzo's grandeur came in 1758, when Carlo, son of Giambattista Rezzonico, was elected Pope as Clement XIII, the same year Ludovico Rezzonico married Faustina Savorgnan in Venice. Ludovico later became the procurator of St. Mark's Basilica. By 1810 the family had died out, leaving only their palazzo to preserve the Rezzonico name.

Interior

In 1758, the newly completed palazzo was enhanced further, by the addition of frescos to the ceilings of the state rooms on the piano nobile overlooking the rio di San Barnaba. The artists selected for this task were Jacopo Guarana, Gaspare Diziani and most importantly Giambattista Tiepolo. These frescos remaining today are among the finest preserved in Venice. The Palazzo's principal rooms are arranged on the 1st piano nobile; on all floors the famous canal facade is only three rooms wide. On each side of the building a suite of four state rooms lead from the grand canal facade to the largest room in the palazzo - the magnificent ballroom at the rear. This room, created by Massari, is of double height. The walls are decorated in trompe l'oeil by the Lombard Pietro Visconti. The images are of an architectural nature, which create the feeling that the large room is even more massive than it is. The ceiling, painted by Giovanni Battista Crosato, depicts Apollo riding his carriage between Europe, Asia, Africa and The Americas. The Ballroom and following state rooms are reached by the vast staircase of honour, its marble balustrades decorated with statuary by Giusto Le Court. Le Court the leading sculptor in Venice in the late 17th century worked closely on many projects with the first architect Longhena, which suggests the regal importance the ballroom and staircase give to the palazzo was one of the intentions of the patrician Bon family rather than the 'arriviste' Rezzonicos. The piano nobile also contains such rooms as the Chapel, and the beautifully frescoed Nuptial Allegory Room decorated to celebrate the 1758 marriage of Ludovico Rezzonico. The ceiling has a trompe l'oeil depiction of the groom and his bride ferried by Apollo's chariot. . The frescoes in the adjoining room continues the celebration of the happy union. This room and the Palazzo Labia ballroom house major ceiling frescoes "in situ" by Tiepolo in Venice. At the centre of the rectangular palazzo is a small courtyard decorated with sculptures and a small fountain; the court is overlooked by the colonnaded balcony of the piano nobile. The ground floor resembles a mere expansion of the vaulted portego - a hall which links the canal entrance to the land entrance at the rear.

Ca' Rezzonico in the 19th century

In the early years of the 19th century, the palazzo was to become Jesuit College, however through complicated inheritance it finally came into the hands of the Pindemonte-Giovanelli family. In 1832, the family sold the entire furnishings and collections of the palazzo. Only the frescos remained in situ. In 1837, Ca' Rezzonico was acquired by Count Ladislao Zelinsky, he in turn let the palazzo to a succession of aristocratic tenants. In the 1880s, it became the home of the painter Robert Barrett Browning, whose father Robert Browning, the poet, died in his apartment on the mezzanine floor in 1889. At this time, the American portrait painter John Singer Sargent also had a studio in the palazzo. In 1906, Browning ignoring an offer from the German Emperor Wilhelm II sold the building to Count Lionello von Hierschel de Minerbi instead. The extravagant, art loving de Minerbi (who refurnished the palazzo with objets d'art, sometimes in questionable taste) lived lavishly at the palazzo until 1935 when, like his predecessors the Bon family, the money ran out.

Ca' Rezzonico today

American songwriter and composer Cole Porter rented Ca' Rezzonico for $4,000 a month in the 1920s. Porter engaged 50 gondoliers to act as footmen and employed a troupe of high-rope walkers to "perform in a blaze of coloured lights". In 1935, after lengthy negotiations, Ca' Rezzonico was acquired by City Council of Venice to display the vast collections of 18th-century Venetian art, which lack of space prevented its display in the Correr Museum. Thus, today the palazzo is more sumptously furnished than ever before. Further paintings by Tiepolo have been added, including an entire frescoed ceiling, depicting 'The Allegory of Merit', which was rescued from Palazzo Barbarigo, now in the throne room. The Throne Room was originally described as a bridal chambers of the Rezzonico family; today it is of all the reconstructed chambers perhaps the most remarkable, consisting chiefly of articles pertaining to the Venetian patrician family of Barbarigo. One of the most remarkable items in the room after the ceiling, is a picture frame. This ornate gilt frame celebrates with putti, shields and other allegories the glories of the illustrious family of Barbarigo. It was originally given to Pietro Barbarigo whose portrait it surrounds. The room is named for the ornate gilt chair or throne by rococo sculptor Antonio Corradini. T

wo very similar chairs were included in the sale at Mentmore Towers in the 1970s, rather than serving as the thrones of monarchs, they were often used by high-ranking priests in the many churches of the city during the interminable masses. In addition to the throne room, a Chinese style salon from the palazzo of the Calbo-Crotta family and many more entire rooms have been salvaged from decaying Venetian palazzi. Numerous paintings by such artists as Pietro Longhi, Francesco Guardi, Giambattista Pittoni and Giandomenico Tiepolo can be found in the Palazzo. In addition to collections of antique furniture, there is also a fine collection of Venetian glass, showing that the skills of the 18th century masters at Murano were probably superior to those on the island today. Ca' Rezzonico opened as a public museum on 25 April 1936. Today, it is one of the finest museums in Venice; this is largely because of its unique character, where objects designed for great palazzi are displayed in a palazzo, thus, the contents and the container harmonise in a way not possible in a purpose built museum.

PALAZZO DARIO, VENICE

Palazzo Dario is a palace in Venice, northern Italy, situated on the Grand Canal of Venice at the mouth of the Rio delle Torreselle in the Dorsoduro sestiere (quarter) on the Campiello Barbaro. The palace was built in the floral Venetian Gothic style and was renovated with Renaissance features.Palazzo Dario, Venice. JC-R.Net

History

The palace was remodelled after 1486 by a follower of Pietro Lombardo for Giovanni Dario, Secretary to the Venetian Senate, diplomat, and merchant.Tiepolo, MF. 2002. "I Greci nella Cancelleria veneziana: Giovanni Dario", I Greci à Venezia: Atti del convegno internazionale di studio, 5–7 November 1998. Venice. 257-314. After Dario's death in 1494, it passed to his daughter, Marietta, who was married to Vincenzo Barbaro, the son of Giacomo Barbaro and owner of the neighboring Palazzo Barbaro. Marietta's sons received possession of the house in 1522. Before that time, the Senate rented it on occasion as a residence for Turkish diplomats.Marino Sanudo, in Diarii, XX:543, 540, for August 1515; XXII: 455, for August 1516; and XXIII:361 for December 1515.

Palazzo Dario resides on a small square, the Campiello Barbaro, named in honor of the patrician Barbaro family members who lived there. The square is shaded by trees and flanked by Palazzo Dario itself. The palace was noted by the English art critic John Ruskin, who described its marble-encrusted oculi in great detail. The corner treatments of the palace has similarities to Palazzo Priuli a San Severo. The rear facade of the palace on the Campiello Barbaro has Gothic arches of the fifth order. A large project of renovation was undertaken at the end of the 19th century, when the palace belonged to the Countess de la Baume-Pluvinel, a French aristocrat and writer under the name of "Laurent Evrard". She was pleased to surround herself with French and Venetian writers, one of whom Henri de Régnier, is commemorated by an inscription on the garden wall, saying "In questacasaanticadei Dario, Henri de Regnier—poeta di Francia—venezianamente visse e scrisse—anni 1899-1901". The Countess is responsible for the staircase, the external chimneys, the majolica stoves, and the fine carvings (vaguely reminiscent of the Scuola di San Rocco) in the dining room on the second piano nobile, looking down to the garden, as well as a great deal of stabilization and replacement of marble on the facade. In 1908 the palace was the subject for a series of impressionist paintings by Claude Monet. Versions now reside in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Museum of Art of Wales. Venice, The building today is private property and not normally open to the public. However, an agreement between the current owner and the Venetian art museum, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, makes it available for special art exhibitions.

PEGGY GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, VENICE

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a modern art museum on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, and is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. The museum was originally the home of the American heiress Peggy Guggenheim, who began displaying her private collection of artworks to the public seasonally in 1951. After her death in 1979, it passed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which eventually opened the collection year-round. The collection is housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an 18th-century palace, which was Guggenheim's home.

CHRUCH OF SAN PANTALON, VENICE

The Chiesa di San Pantaleone Martire, also known as San Pantalon in the Venetian dialect, is a church in Venice, northern Italy. It is located in Campo San Pantalon in Venice the Dorsoduro District and is dedicated to Saint Pantaleon. The church of San Pantalon is particularly well known for its immense ceiling painting, depicting The Martyrdom and Apotheosis of St Pantalon. It was painted on canvas by Gian Antonio Fumiani between 1680 and 1704, who fell to his death from the scaffolding while working on the project.

Other notable works include Coronation of the Virgin by Antonio Vivarini and Giovanni d'Alemagna in the Chapel of the Holy Nail and St Pantalon healing a Boy, the last work by Veronese, originally commissioned for the high altar. San Pantalon is a parish church of the Vicariate of San Polo-Santa Croce-Dorsoduro.

CHURCH OF SAN TROVASO, VENICE

San Trovaso (dedicated to Gervasius and Protasius) is a church in the sestiere or neighborhood of Dorsoduro in Venice, northern Italy. The church dates to at least the 1028. The present church was rebuilt by 1584. The architect was probably Francesco Smeraldi. The church was consecrated in 1637. In the chancel are two canvases, Adoration of the Magi and Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple (before 1587) by Domenico Tintoretto, brought here from the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The left rear chapel, commissioned by Antonio Milledonne, has a Temptations of Saint Anthony Abbot by Jacopo Tintoretto. In addition the St. Chrysogonus on Horseback (1444) was painted by Michele Giambono. The Cappella del Santissimo Sacramento has a Last Supper by the elder Tintoretto. The second chapel to the right has a Madonna and child in Glory by Palma il Giovane.

SANTA MARIA DEI CARMINI CHURCH, VENICE

Santa Maria deiCarmini, also called Santa Maria del Carmelo and commonly known simply as theCarmini, is a large church in the sestiere, or neighbourhood, of Dorsoduro in Venice, northern Italy. It nestles against the former Scuola Grande di Santa Maria del Carmelo, also known as the Scuola deiCarmini. This charitable confraternity was officially founded in 1597, and arose from a lay women's charitable association, the Pinzocchere deiCarmini. The members of this lay group were associated as tertiaries to the neighbouring Carmelite monastery. They were responsible for stitching the Scapulars for the Carmelites.

History

The church originally was called Santa Maria Assunta, and first dated to the 14th century. The brick and marble facade contains sculpted lunettes by Giovanni Buora. Among the roofline decorations are images of Elisha and Elijah, thought to be founders of the Carmelite order. The bell tower, designed by Giuseppe Sardi, is topped by a statue of the Madonna del Carmine sculpted in 1982 as a replacement by Romano Vio. The previous original was destroyed by lightning.

Description

The chancel and side chapels in the interior were rebuilt in 1507-14 by Sebastiano Mariani from Lugano. The counter-facade has a large monument to Jacopo Foscarini who was a procurator of San Marco, admiral of the fleet, and whose family palace lies across the canal. The second altar has an Adoration of the Shepherds (1509–11) by Cima da Conegliano. The third altar on the right has a Madonna del Carmelo with saints (1595) by Pase Pace and Giovanni Fontana. The Staues of Virginity (left) and Humility (right) (1722–1723) were completed by Antonio Corradini and Giuseppe Torritti respectively. The bronze angels on the balustrade are by Girolamo Campagna. The wooden frontal represents the Miracles of the Madonna (1724) and was carved by Francesco Bernadoni. The Tabernacle is by Giovanni Scalfarotto. The Glorification of the Scapular (1709) was frescoed by Sebastiano Ricci on the ceiling. The stucco work was completed by Pietro Bianchini to designs of Abbondio Stazio. In the fresco, the angels uphold the scapular, and a painted inscription say it is an ornament of Mt Carmel. Past the entry to the sacristy is the altar of the guild of the Compravendi Pesce (1548) with an altarpiece of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (1541–1542) by Jacopo Tintoretto. The third chapel on the left has a Lamentaton of the Dead Christ (c. 1476) by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. In front of the chancel are paintings by Marco Vicentino, Palma il Giovane, and Gaspare Diziani. The second altar has two statues of Elijah and Elisha by Tommaso Ruer. Elijah holds a flaming sword. The first altar has a painting of Saint Nicholas of Bari in Glory between St. John the Baptist and St. Lucy by Lorenzo Lotto. The upper register of the nave is lined with 24 large canvases from the 1666-1730s, painted by artists such as Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, Gaspare Diziani, Girolamo Brusaferro and Pietro Liberi. The choirs includes 3 paintings (1545) by Andrea Meldolla.

SCUOLA GRANDE DEI CARMINI, VENICE

The Scuola Grande deiCarmini is a confraternity building in Venice, Italy. It is located in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, before Campo deiCarmini and Campo Santa Margherita, upon which its facade looks upon. It was the former home of the a Venetian Scuola of the same name. The Scuola was founded in 1594 under Doge Pasquale Cicogna, and was the last of its kind to be recognized as a Scuola Grande in 1767 by the Council of Ten. Initially it was located in the Convent of the Church of Carmini, whose structure also faces thecampo of the same name. The present scuola building was designed by Francesco Caustello and Baldassare Longhena. In 1807, the confraternity was suppressed by Napoleon's anticlerical decrees.

The Austrians allowed the Scuola to reopen, and it continues activities today, though mostly cultural activities. The Baroque facade faces south, while the lateral facade faces west. The chapel has a wooden roof. The main altarpiece is a Virgin of the Carmelo. The entry staircase by Longhena and the upstairs landing are richly decorated with a colorful trompe l'oeil tile floor, stucco ceiling with gilded highlights, and elaborate lamps The capitular hall (Sala Capitolare) has a ceiling paintings by Tiepolo (1739–1749). The four corner lunettes represent Prudence, Sincerity and Temperance, Strength and Justice (man with column and woman), Patience (with Putto overhead), Innocence, and Chastity and Faith (with cross), Hope and Charity ; while the central canvas depicts the Madonna consigns the scapular to St Simone Stock.

The altar dedicated to the virgin has a statue of the Madonna and Bambino offering the scapular, by Bernardino da Lugano. The Stucco decoration in the room was completed by Abbondio Stazio. The rooms of the archive contain ceiling and wall paintings by Giustino Menescardi with elaborate woodwork, specially caryatids by Giacomo Piazzetta; the iconography of the paintings was organized by Gaetano Zompini. Among Menescardi's paintings are Martyrdom of Brothers Maccabe and Abigail placates David's designs against her husband Nabal. The ceiling depicts a Virgin appears to Elias atop Mount Carmel. Finally in the Sala dell'Albergo are also remarkable canvases by painters including central ceiling by Padovanino (Assumption), Ambrogio Boni, and Antonio Balestra. The complex also has a “Judith and Holofernes” by Piazetta.